For the first time in 21 weeks, we have no football of importance on Sunday.
So you might find yourself on The Lord’s Day, with a wallet way too full. Here are five different sports you can bet on to get you through all 24 hours. It’ll be the Super Bowl before you know it.
Note: I couldn’t find any NBA or NHL lines a full day in advance.
1. Bellator 214 – Fedor Emelianenko (+210) vs. Ryan Bader (-260)
Sunday, 12:00 a.m.
Technically, this is slated to start at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night. But you know how title cards work – no chance these two touch gloves before midnight.
I think this is MMA, or maybe UFC or something. And it’s kind of a bizarre event – at 35 years old, Bader is the youngest fighter who entered the eight-man tournament. He’s also the reigning light heavyweight champion. But Emelianenko, 42, has the edge in winning percentage and also has 20 pounds on Bader. He was named Sports Illustrated’s “Fighter of the Decade” for the 2000’s, though I feel like that’s more of a con than a pro.
Bader seems like the smart pick at -260, but there’s admittedly not much money to be won there. Do you dare throw on the cosmonaut and try to double your stack? Sure – desperate times call for desperate wagers.
Emelianenko +210
2. Australian Open Men’s Final – Rafael Nadal (+105) vs. Novak Djokovic (-135)
Sunday, 3:35 a.m.
There are two ways to do this: wake up at 3:00 a.m. or stay up until 6:00 a.m. Your choice.
For better or worse, the state of men’s tennis has not budged in the last 15 years, and it’s still the same three guys. That could be a whole different article in itself. Just enjoy it for the moment – even at a combined age of 63, these two are both still on top of their games, having both just embarrassed their semi-final opponents.
Head-to-head, Djokovic leads the rivalry 27-25. But he’s 12-3 in their last 15, and 20-9 going back through 2011. At non-French Open Grand Slams, the Djoker leads the head-to-head 4-3. And though Nadal owns the French Open series at 6-1, 1) Nadal owns everyone on the Paris clay and 2) Novak’s lone victory came the most recent time they met there in 2015.
Djokovic has been absolutely on fire since fully recovering from his elbow injury, winning the final two Grand Slams of the 2018 season. Bet on the man accordingly.
Djokovic -135
3. Greek Super League Soccer – Olympiakos (-135) vs. Asteras Tripolis (+375)
Sunday, 12:30 p.m.
Olympiakos is in second place in the Greek Super League, with the third-best goal differential. They face off against Asteras Tripoli, currently eleventh in the standings.
So why isn’t Olympiakos more heavily favored? I decided to investigate.
First, I went to their Twitter page, which was unsurprisingly in Greek. They mercifully provided English translations as well. They have a new player named Gil Dias, a Portuguese dude on loan from AS Monaco FC. Might he be the key? Other Twitter posts included several congratulating countryman Stefanos Tsitsipas on defeating Roger Federer in the Australian Open. There was another one about men’s water polo.
Then I went to the Asteras Tripolis Twitter page – perhaps they have some sort of secret weapon. Lots of tweets about apparel sales, and I do love a good bargain. Their account also tweets far less than Olympiakos’ does, possibly hinting at organizational shortcomings.
With my exhaustive investigation complete, I threw $20 on Olympiakos.
Olympiakos -135
4. NFL Pro Bowl – AFC (-110) vs. NFC (-110)
Sunday, 3:00 p.m.
The Pro Bowl sucks, everybody knows it. The league knows it. The Pro Bowlers know it. Even Scotty knows it.
But if you’re gonna make it to Super Bowl Sunday, you’re gonna have to get dirty.
If you put a gun to my head, I guess I’d take the AFC. But there’s safer money to be won on the over/under at 54.5. I’m baffled as to why it’s this low – defenses don’t even pretend to try in this game. Put money on the over, and then take a nap or something.
Over 54.5 points -120
5. Cricket International – India (-180) vs. New Zealand (+150)
Sunday, 9:00 p.m.
Really feeling the New Zealand upset here. India is currently up 2-0 in this series. According to an ESPN article on the match-up, India has the best player out there in Rohit Sharma, and last game he “faced more balls [and] ate more dots” than his opponents.
I don’t expect India to be able to maintain their advantage in dot-eating. We all know how hard dots are to eat – that’s why the best dot-eaters in the world get paid the big bucks.
I say New Zealand eats the dots this time. More importantly, New Zealand’s GDP per capita absolutely crushed India’s in 2017, $42,941 to $1,940.
New Zealand +150
